When to Plant Oriental poppies in Lock Haven, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Lock Haven you can determine when it's a good idea to plant oriental poppies by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Oriental poppies

Frost tolerance for oriental poppies: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Oriental poppies are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant oriental poppies
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant oriental poppies
Probably not a good time to plant oriental poppies

The earliest that you can plant oriental poppies in Lock Haven is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant oriental poppies and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your oriental poppies may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your oriental poppies indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lock Haven the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lock Haven may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lock Haven it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your oriental poppies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lock Haven

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Lock Haven

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lock Haven.